Eyes in the sky can give border controls an edge

Two African nations plan to upgrade their air surveillance capabilities through very different methods.

Benin has accepted two batches of new-design autogyros, while Tunisia is going down the well-established route of using Cessna Caravans in the role.

German gyroplane manufacturer AutoGyro has handed over to Benin five Cavalon Sentinels and two Calidus Sentinels. The Cavalon Sentinel is a side-by-side seat model, while the Calidus Sentinel has a tandem-seat arrangement.

Both versions are powered by the new Rotax 916 iS engine. This gives the Sentinel an operational range of four hours or approximately 600km/325nm, with a maximum speed of 225 km/h or 120 kts.

AutoGyro says that a gyroplane’s virtues include the ability to fly very slowly, or even to remain stationary in the air, which makes them an excellent observation platform, notably for border or highway patrols or wildfire spotting. They can also operate in instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions and have a significantly lower carbon footprint than helicopters.

Customer-specified equipment includes a high-resolution day-, night- and infrared-camera system with real-time data downlink to a control centre.

AutoGyro is supporting the operation for several months in Benin, assisting with flight crew training and building up the necessary infrastructure for the new fleet.

Meanwhile, the Tunisian Air Force has received four Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EXs, the result of a March 2022 contract placed by US company ATI Engineering Services with Textron Aviation.

Textron supplied the aircraft to ATI for the latter company to outfit the airframes with a range of sensors and systems, including an electro-optical/infrared sensor and operator console, plus a video datalink and night-vision compatible lighting.

Tunisia’s intention is to use the aircraft for a range of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) duties.

The deal was part of a larger US government initiative to provide several African countries with a total of 16 Grand Caravan EXs via the US’s foreign military sales process.

Tunisia joins African nations such as Cameroon, Chad, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, and Uganda in fielding the single turboprop aircraft in the ISR field.